Incidence of Calf Morbidity and Mortality at CIG Dairy Farms of Muktagacha Upazila in Mymensingh District

Abstract

Calf morbidity and mortality are important causes of economic losses on dairy farms worldwide. An investigation on the incidence of calf morbidity and mortality was conducted on 92 purposively selected CIG (Common Interest Group) dairy farms in Muktagacha upazila of Mymensingh district. A total of 119 calves from the farms were longitudinally followed from August 2014 to November 2014 for major health problems. Representative fecal samples from diarrhoeic calves were tested to identify gastro-enteropathogens associated with diarrhea by rapid detection test kit (Bio K 306). The overall incidence risk of morbidity and mortality were 56.17% and 6.29%, respectively. The most frequent disease syndrome was diarrhea with incidence risk of 34.82% followed by navel ill (7.22%) and pneumonia (6.29%). In addition, fever, arthritis, pica and foot and mouth disease were encountered. The main causes of death in calf were pneumonia (3.739%) and FMD (1.78%). A variety of infectious agents are implicated in calf diarrhea and co-infection of multiple pathogens is not uncommon. The overall prevalence of microorganisms associated with diarrhea was 69.2% in which Clostridium perfringens was the highest (38.5%) within the first month of age. The prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp within first month of age was 7.7%. In this study, mixed infection with Clostridium perfringens and Cryptosporidium spp or Corona virus was found in 7.7% of diarrheic calves within 10 days of the age. It is now established that calf morbidity and mortality are an important limiting factors for the success of modern dairy farms and accordingly vigorous and comprehensive research should be taken to minimize the problem.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjvm.v13i1.23715Bangl. J. Vet. Med. (2015). 13 (1): 37-43